MANILA, Philippines - For Aleli Arroyo, wife of the late Negros Occidental congressman Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo, dealing with her husband's death and bringing him home should have been simple.

"We had everything supposedly covered... We did not want any confrontation, we did not want to spend too much money.  We just wanted to bring the body home," Aleli said on ANC's "Headstart."

"The embassy was supposedly coordinating with funeral in terms of turning over body to the air cargo."

But today, Aleli is furious, after the lawmaker's partner Grace Ibuna frustrated her plans to repatriate his remains. Aleli said she could not possibly reconcile with a woman like Grace.

"I did not realize that that other woman would manifest her real self... She's evil...because she even fired all the hand-picked employees of my husband in Congress and if she could do that she could do anything."

"She could pretend to be the wife, to pull the plug. I didn't realize she could not think of the family, not think of the constituents, not think of his congressmen friends and keep the body to herself."

Aleli said had they managed to repatriate Iggy's remains, they would've held necrological rites in Congress today.

Aleli's counsel, Atty. Lorna Kapunan, notes the funeral parlor would not release the body to them amid doubts Aleli was the valid wife.

"The London clinic said Grace Ibuna was next of kin and we immediately e-mailed them the state of law in the Philippines. Nag-apologize ang London clinic," she said.

Kapunan said Ibuna may have misrepresented herself as next of kin, after falsely claiming that Iggy's 12-year marriage to Aleli had been annulled.

She said the annulment was never completed, making it impossible for Ibuna to be Iggy's  common-law-wife whether under Philippines laws or those of the United Kingdom.

"Iggy filed an annulment pero hawak sa leeg, and even if he filed, hindi siya nagbayad ng filing fees, away niya magbayad," Kapunan said.

"We filed an opposition to the annulment saying it was a scheme in order to legitimize an otherwise adulterous relationship with Grace."

"For two years, postpone ng postpone ang kaso. Ang appeal nila on filing fees sa Court of Appeals dineny. Nagmotion to dismiss sila dineny. Nag motion sila sa counter claims namin, dineny din and yet he was not coming to court.  Towards the last few months, even his lawyer changed. Tinanggal si Atty. Ruy Rondain ng lawyer na hindi nag-aattend so saan ang seriousness niyan."

Kapunan said Iggy was still married to Aleli at the time of his death. "Iggy is married. He cannot get married to Grace even if he wanted to... So hindi pwede even under UK Law ang tinatawag na common-law wife leading us to the conclusion na nag-falsify siya."

Aleli  insists she is not after Iggy's wealth. She said she remained faithful to Iggy even after their separation.

"Money is not the subject that should be talked about right now, cause we're all grieving.  We just want the remains back.  Second, money is the root of all evil. We can clearly see here with all his apartments was he ever able to live in any of them? He's just now in the freezer.  We will all be in a 10x2 coffin or be cremated. What's the point to all this money? By the way, I'm educated. I can work."

She noted she is willing to make peace with the rest of the Arroyo family, adding she wants to return Iggy's remains home to allow their daughter, Alelu, time to grieve.

"On our way home to mass, I told her would you mind holding the wake at Tita Gloria's house just to keep it peaceful. She's very composed like her father, but she started screaming: 'They already stole my father for more than 5 years and then now they can't even give me 3 days,'" she said.